Integrated Lesson Plan/Activity

Teacher Name: Olivia Taylor Integrated Lesson Focus: Science & Art

Name of the activity: Studying Balance Grade/Age: 5th Grade

Equipment needs: Smart Board picture of oval basin, pencil, worksheet with template of oval basin.

Brief description/purpose of the activity:

Standard ELA.SL.5.4: Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details
to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

Objective: Make claims on the health of an ecosystem based on an observation of an art piece, an oval basin created in the 16 th century.

To begin with, engage students in a discussion centered on the analysis of an oval basin and have an image of this basin on the smart board. The objects on
the basin includes molds made from actual animals, which is always intriguing to the students. The purpose of using this basin is it allows you to discuss
sustainability and balance within an ecosystem (balance as in looking at the placement of the different specimen.)

Ask students what they think balance means, and then give them the definition. Also explain to students what you mean by ecosystem (in particular the delicate
system that we as humans are part of).

Explain to students a bit more about the oval basin. Move onto asking them to tell you what producers, consumers (primary and secondary), and decomposers
are. Talk to students about what a habitat is and based on some of the animals and organisms that they saw on the oval basin. Have them analyse the
interactions of the species.
E.g. do you think a lizard would eat a snail? If so what does that make the lizard?

Write on the white board producers, consumers (primary and secondary), and decomposers in a chart and then have students tell you which animal from the
basin belongs in which column and them specify why they think that so.
After they have classified all animals, ask students is this a balanced ecosystem? or alternatively is this balanced as a piece of art?
E.g.in terms of art, have them look at the snake in the middle, and ask whether they think the image is balanced or not. Have them express their opinion and
build on others ideas and respond to one another.

After they have looked at the physical traits of the basin, look at the columns and see whether scientifically based on their analysis of the animals, whether it is
a balanced ecosystem or imbalanced.

Finally, hand out the worksheet, containing a blank piece of paper simple an empty oval basin on it in which students can fill in. Have students make a new oval
basin that is balanced, using animals that they know from the kelp forest that students have previously been on a field trip to.

In order to create this art, students have to look at their diagrams and resources. After they sketch out their basin have them stick their work to the white board
and have a gallery wall and have students comment on each others work. After discussion, have students review their basins and add more if necessary so
that it is balanced.

The language and analysis they get from looking at art allows them to see things from different perspectives and allows them to see there is no right or wrong
answer necessarily, but there are answers that have more justification, which is the same for both art and science.
Possible Modifications to the lesson:

Source: https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/integrating-science-with-art-getty